Mail-bag-delivery apparatus



G; D. BREMNER AND E. E. TROUTMAN.

MAIL BAG DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATIDN FILED JULY 27,1921.

Patented May 30, 1922;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTORS WM G. D.BREMNER AND E. E. TROUTMAN.

MAIL BAG DELIVERY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 21.1921.

Patented May 30, 1922* 2 SHEETS-43M 2.'

St Tltlti units GEORGE D. BREMNER, 0F BROOKLYN, NEW YORK,

AND ELMER E. TBOUTIWAN, OF

ASHLANI), PENNSYLVANIA.

MAIL-BAG-DELIVEEY APPELRAT-US.

Application filed July 27,

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, GEORGE D. BRENNER and Emma E. TROUTMAN, citizens of the United States, residing, respectively, in the city of New York, borough of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, and Ashland, in the county of Schuylkill and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in MaiLBag-Delivery Apparatus, of which the following is a specification.

lhis invention relates to apparatus for delivering or transferring articles or packages with respect to moving vehicles or similar objects, and has particular reference to the transfer or delivery of bags of mail with re spect to railway cars in rapid motion.

Among the objects of the invention is to improve and simplify mechanism of this general character so as to make it expedient to deliver mail bags from a car in rapid mo tion to a platform or to receive bags by the car from a stationary position, with the least degree of likelihood of damage to the mail or mail bags or injury to persons who may be in the vicinity of the point of transfer or delivery.

\Ve are aware that various means have been proposed heretofore for this general purpose, some of which means are of the same general character as our improvement, but another and more specific object of this present invention is to provide mechanism carried either on the car or supported by the platform, or both, for the transfer or delivery of a number of mail bags in either direction simultaneously.

A still further object is to provide mechanism including a special form of attachment means whereby each mail bag may be cletachably held in position for the interchange I or delivery.

the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented May 3t), 1922.

1921. Serial No. esaeso.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one of the bag holders.

Fig. at is a detail perspective view of a part of the bag holder indicating a bag detachably supported thereby.

Fig. 5 is a detail view of one of the bag connections or hooks.

Referring now more specifically to drawings,iw'e show car 10 and a crane ll, representing respectively relatively movable and stationary objects, it being understood that the car is adapted for movement at high speed with respect to the crane. It has long been desired to secure mechanism that will deliver bags of mail to and receive the same from a platform while the train is in motion, without endangering either the bags, their contents, or individuals on the platform. It is nevertheless true that many accidents occur in the practice of such prior attempts.

Mounted upon the car is a comb-like bag supporting member 12, extending laterally from the car in a horizontal plane and preferably pivoted to swing around a vertical axis at 13, so as to swing close to or within the side of the car. The support 12 includes a series of teeth 12 extending rearward with respect to the direction of movement of the car, but having their points elevated slightly to prevent the slipping of the bags there from while the car is in motion. This support is long and stiff enough to hold a number of mail bags for simultaneous delivery, the bags being held between any desired selected teeth of the comb.

Arranged for cooperation with and recepion of the aforesaid mail bags is a bag receiving member lat, indicated in the form of a transversely curved net carried by a rigid frame 15, the same being supported in a relatively stationary position with respect to the car. We show this frame 15 as supported upon the upright 16 of the crane ll mounted in any suitable manner along the track or platform, preferably so mounted as to swing around the vertical axis of the standard for the convenience of the operator as well as individuals walking in such vicinity. As shown the bottom of the net and frame are so disposed as to allow the lower ends of the mail bags to pass freely thereover and strike along an inclined middle portion of the net, while the upper portion of the net will eventually receive all of urged into contact with the bag or bags. By reason of the inclined point of contact between the bag and the net, there is a tendency, due to the relative r1- gidity of the net and the momentum of the bag, for it to be elevated slightly'as a result of the impact and so the delivery or detachment of the bag from the support 12 will be facilitated, and the bag will simply drop or roll into the hollow or concave bottom portion of the net. The structure of the net may be of any suitable flexible mesh material, while the frame 15 is necessarily rigid.

Associated with the net 14L, either above or below it, but indicated as above it, is another bag supporting member 17, having forwardly projecting teeth 17. The points of these teeth incline downward slightly to fa-i cilitate the stripping of the bags therefrom by means of the car supported net 18 associated with the first mentioned comb-like bag support 12, shown in this instance as being located above the support 12.

The comb-like bar 17 may be connected by a horizontal pivot 20 to permit the bar to swing upward automatically by reason of a weight 21 connected to its end remote from the toothed end thereof. Access is had by the operator to the comb-like member 17 for placing bags thereon by means of an elevated platform 22, the crane 11 being swung around its pivot for this purpose. The operator will swing the bar downward into horizontal position and while in such position he will attach the bags thereto, and thereafter will swing the crane around to bring the bags into the path of the net 18 carried by the frame 19 associated with the first mentioned bar 12 pivoted on the side of the car. v

Each mail bag B is or may be provided with a loop 23 into or through which any suitable hook may be engaged to facilitate the manipulation of the bag by the station man or railway mail clerk. The type of hook we prefer to employ is shown at 24 in Fig. 5 the same comprising a tubular shank 25, a 'T-head 26, and a hook 27 with which cooperates a keeper or tongue 28 slidable in the shank 25. The keeper is normally the hook by means of a coil spring 29 within the shank, while a finger piece 30 projecting laterally through v a slot 31 enables the keeper to be withdrawn from the hook to attach the loop 23. The head 26 of the clip 24 is adapted to lie across any two selected teeth of either comb while the shank 25 depends between said two teeth. No obstruction, however, is experienced tending to prevent the free stripping of the bag and clip from the supporting comb.

From the disclosure thus made it must be evident that we have provided means for the simultaneous interchange of a number of mail bags with respect to the relatively movable and stationary members or objects, and that the manipulation of the bags both before and after such interchange may be easily accomplished on the part of the operators. Nor is there any likelihood or even possibility of loss of or damage to such property.

We claim:

. 1. The combination able and stationary objects, of a bag'supp0rting comb-like member on one of said objects and a bag receiving net carried by the other of said objects, said not comprising a rigid frame holding the net with bag-receiving portion at an inclination to cause a lifting action on the bag when engaging it and also including a concave bottom into which the bag ultimately is received, the mechanism being so designed that when the movable object passes the stationary one any number of bags supported on the member will be received by the net and thereby slip from the teeth of the comb-like member.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which a comb-like bag supporting member is carried by each of the relatively movable ob jects, the teeth on the stationary comb inclining downward while those on themovable object incline upward.

8. In mail bag delivery mechanism, the combination of comb-like supporting bar, the pointsof the teeth of which project in the direction of delivery of a mail bag therefrom, and a bag attachment clip comprising a T-headed hook adapted to lie across any selected two of said teeth while the shank of the hook depends between said teeth, said hook including a spring pressed normally closed keeper slidable along the shank of the hook.

In testimony whereof we afiiX our signatures.

GEORGE D. BREMNER. ELMER E. TROUTMAN.

with relatively mov- 

